Benjamin c



(No Model.)

B. O. ODELL.

' CONVERTIBLE GHAIR,

No. 317,001. Patented May {5, 1885.

NirED- STATES BENJAMIN C. ODELL, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO DANIEL L. THOMPSON, CHARLES A. PERLEY, AND GILMAN WAITE.

CONVERTIBLE CHAIR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 317,001, dated May 5, 1885.

Application filed January Ell, 1884. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN C. ODELL, of the city of Brooklyn, county of Kings, State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Convertible Chairs; andI declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying sheet of drawings, forming part of this specification. 7

10 This invention has for its object an improvement in convertible chairs; and the invention consists in a convertible chair constructed with a lever pivoted to its rear legs, in combination with one or more arms pivoted to the said lever and to the back of the chair, the lowermost pivot of said arms being out of a straight vertical line drawn between its uppermost pivot and the pivot in the lower end of said lever, as is with greater particularity hereinafter shown, described, and claimed. a

In the accompanying sheet of drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of chair in highest posi-. tion; Fig. 2, rear view of same; Fig. 3, view of chair in lowest position; Fig. 4, side view of lever, showing relative position of pivots with a straight vertical line.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to that class of con- 0 vertible chairs which are adapted to be moved from a lower to a higher position for the purpose of forming a high chair or a carriage. For that purpose it is essential that some simple means should be employed to seen re thelegs 3 5 of the chair to the seat-frame thereof in a stable manner and yet admit of the ready adjustment of the chair to the several positions for which it is designed. Hooks, spring-catches, bolts, and other contrivances have heretofore been 0 employed for this purpose; but they have all possessed features that rendered them unde-.

sirable. To construct, therefore,a chair which will be unobjectionable in the particular feature named,I make a curved lever, A, of wood or any other suitable material. This lever may be made from a single piece of material; but it is preferably formed from two curved pieces united together as is shown in Fig. 2. The length of this lever so made is a matter of convenience only, since it may be long enough to constitute a pushhandle for the chair, or shorter, if desired, when no push-handle is needed. This lever A, atits lower extremity,

is pivoted by pivotal bolts a, or in any convenient way, to the inner surface of the rear legs, B, of the chair, and to the inner surface of the lever A. At a point or points midway from its ends aresecured, by pivots b, the lower ends of links or arms (h, The upper ends of these links or arms are, by pivots c, secured to the back of the chair in any convenient manner. The frontlegs, D, of the chair are hinged to the under side of the seat-frame thereof, and the rear legs are united to the seat-frame by links d.

The front and rear legs in chairs of this constructiou are preferably crossed and pivoted together; but my invention is applicable to chairs having legs of other construction. The rear legs are provided with wheels 0 and the front legs with wheelsj. Now, when a chair is constructed as hereinbefore described its operation is as follows: To bring the chair from its highest to its lowest position it is simply necessary to draw outward the upper end of the lever A. By this operation the pivotal bolts 1) of the lower ends of the links or arms 0 and the pivots c at the upper ends of said links or arms are brought into one and the same straight line, and at the moment this line is passed there is nothing to prevent the several parts of the chair from moving on its pivots, hereinbefore described, and its front and rear legs from diverging or spreading out until the chair is supported in its lowest position on its front and rear wheels, 6 andf, asis shown in Fig. 3. WVhen in this lowest position the chair 'cannot be disturbed from it, except when it is desired to restore the chair toits highest position. This restoration is accomplished by placing one hand on the back of the chair, the c other on the lever A, lifting upward the chair by its back, and pushing inward toward the back of the chair the lever A until the lower ends of the links or arms 0, or, rather, their pivotal points I), are inside of a straight line 5 drawn from the pivotal points a of the lever A and the pivots c of the links or arms 0, when by reason of these three pivots being out of a straight line the levcrA will be brought against the back of the chair with a spring and a snap, holding the upper end of the rear legs tightly in contact with the under side of the seat-frame, and keeping the several parts of the chair firmly locked together, in which position they will remain until the chair is again lowered in the manner before recited.

In the operation of restoring the chair from its lowest to its highest position the act of bringing the lever A to a nearly vertical position assists also in bringing the upper ends of the rear legs to their required place beneath and in contact with the seat-frame. If the lever A. is desired to be used as a push-handle for the chair, then it may extend upward, as is shown in Figs. 1 and 2, so that when the chair is lowered it will be long enough to pro-- ject at the proper angle for such a purpose. If not to be so used,the lever A may be ofless length, as before stated.

It is obvious that the foregoing-described construction of the device for locking a convertible chair or its several parts in the highest position is applicable to convertible chairs of any or almost any construction, whether they be the so called "convertible carriagechairs or convertible rocking-chairs, or both combined.

Having now described my invention,what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A convertible chair of the class described, in combination with a lever pivoted to its rear legs, and a link or links pivoted to said lever and to the back of the chair, the pivot at the lower end ofsaid links being inside ofa straight line drawn between the upper end of said link and the pivot at the lower end of said lever which unites said lever to the rear legs of the chair, substantially as described.

2. A chair convertible to a high orlow chair, a push-handle pivoted at its lower end to the rear legs thereof, one or more links pivoted to the push-handle and to the back of the chair, the lower pivots of said links being out of a straight line drawn between the pivot of the push-handle and the upper pivot of said links, and between such line and the chair, pivoted and crossed front and rear legs of the chair, and wheels fixed to said front and rear legs, all combined and operating substantially as shown and described.

BEN-J. O. ODELL.

Vitnesses:

G. M. PLYMPION, EDWARD L. JoHNs. 

